Weekly Comic: The Magical Belly Button

Belly button lint inspired this latest comic. I don’t always find lint in my belly button but when I do I get more excited than I probably should. It’s so much f*ing fun digging it out! Calm down Ben. Anyway, the comic that follows is all about a dude with a totally gnarly navel.

The Magical Bellybutton

The Creative Process
I noticed that I had done my last two comics in a horizontal format and while I think that works great for web-based comics, I wanted to try something a little different this time. I like how it came out. I thumbnailed this one on a piece of scrap paper I found at my parents house and from there I just went right into the pencils. Very quick turnaround for this one.

What I Like
I love the first two panels. That’s me getting ready for a shower and playing with my belly button. I think I captured the boredom waiting for the shower to heat up and then the surprise at pulling a treasure chest out of your belly button really well. Also, I love that last panel. It was just straight fun to draw and the word balloon? I don’t know. It’s silly and I love it.

What I Wish I Did Differently
Looking at in on a computer screen I can’t help but notice that there’s tons of pencil everywhere. I need to maybe go back and start erasing? Actually I really probably need to use a lighter pencil. Up to this point I’ve been using some your standard #2 pencil… Also, the ballpoint pen just isn’t working anymore. I want to experiment with different line widths, thus I bought a pack of technical pens that I’m hoping will help improve some of my detail work.

I regret not putting a title on this comic. I think panels three, four, and five need some work. I could have put a ton more detail in there. Lastly, I’d like to try working with a longer narrative instead of these one-and-dones.

Final Thoughts
I think this is my best comic yet. It’s clear and concise and it was really fun to draw. Other than that… I learned that drawing boats is freaking hard and that I still really need to work on perspective. And basically everything else… But I have new pens! We’ll see what happens with that madness. And I’m going to try to find an eraser.